Eye of the Storm
by Deus Ex Machination
Summary: Taking life seriously? Not Clover. Well, not until a psychopath from the 'past' drags her and her friends into a world of chaos. Clover then finds that life is much more meaningful than she thought. TS/SC, don't read it if you don't like it. Chapter 3 up!
1. Prologue

Warning: If you have nothing nice to say about this story, don't say anything at all. It is called being courteous, being respectful of other human beings. If you have _constructive_ criticism, it is greatly appreciated. Any ridiculous flames/spams will be deleted/reported.

This story is a crossover between Totally Spies and Soul Calibur. It contains large doses of femslash, quite a bit of violence, gore, cursing, and some nudity, sexuality and the like. Thus, it is rated M. If you don't like any of that stuff, or can't imagine how a crossover like this could happen, don't read it then. You have been warned.

I'm not describing the plot or anything any further, you'll have to read it to find out what's going on, heh. That's what makes you WANT to read it! ^_^

Disclaimer: I don't own Totally Spies, Soul Calibur, or anything from Marathon or Namco Bandai. Wish I did though.

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Author: Deus Ex Machination

Title: Eye of the Storm

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**Prologue**

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"Finally, someone to whom I can give myself entirely..."

A simple statement spoken at the time, though never had the culprit imagined the full impact of the words separated from her emerald lips until now. Oh, such excitement, such utter glee...such death; she wallowed in it, content at the very least that her sadistic obsession was fulfilled daily. Her beloved Eiserne Drossel; it was like an extension of her own hand, and she treated as such. It claimed countless souls, ever drenched in the blood of their shells, and like its owner never looked back, never cared for what its victims' lives were worth, to themselves or to others. Just mindless killing machines.

That's all she was. A mindless killing machine.

Had Tira ever thought about this before? Had she always been to serve, and not to show gratitude? It was not so during her mercenary days in the Birds of Passage. Too long ago that now seemed, when her old masters spoke praise of her, rewarded her, and ever faithful she was, and grew, prostrating before them, and both sides were utterly pleased, delighting in their devices and feared little, save the dreams that haunted them, quickly brushed off upon wake.

But those days were long gone; she had since entered the service of the monster christened he Azure Knight. She had sought him, hearing the death toll rise; the thought of murder side-by-side grew inside of her like a parasite. Even turned down by the man with the scythe, whose meddling knew no bounds, she hunted for Nightmare across Europe. Her persistence paid off, indeed it nearly paid everything off, including her own life, but the monster, after a pause, accepted Tira's loudly proclaimed offer. Tira was ecstatic, and she sang as she slew; no one would dare assail her new master with her at his side.

But Nightmare did not place Tira by his side. The murderous assassin was let down slightly by the announcement of a great danger to Nightmare: Soul Calibur, and that she was to go destroy it in order to free the remaining pieces of Soul Edge, which Nightmare needed to regain his ancient strength and wrath.

"But I wish to be by your side, Master! Who will protect you?" she cried.

"I do not need protection. I need the revival of Soul Edge. This cannot be achieved if the spirit sword still exists. And afterward you will find me a host for Soul Edge, lest you tremble at my feet!"

"But Master, you are not strong enough! Not for this!"

"Did you not hear me, slave?" the monster snarled, with such a venomous bite in his voice that even Tira stepped well away from him. "You will deliver to me Soul Edge and a suitable host, or else pay the price for your insubordination!"

Tira's fear, however, vanished instantly as she set off. She would find Soul Edge. She would kill whomever wielded the spirit sword. Yes, she would destroy Soul Calibur, and anyone would stood in its way! Surely her master would be proud of her, just as the masters of the Birds of Passage had.

And yet...

Not once in her service with the Azure Knight had she felt any affection from the one she had pledged absolute loyalty to. She wanted love, trust, a spiritual bond to share with the one she felt the little emotion she had for, who was like her. Over and over she recounted this, as she slew and slew, and red stained the emerald clothing she bore, and wondered, at all, whether her master had felt anything she had felt towards him, towards her. But no, she came to the same conclusion every time: Nightmare was using her, using her as a mindless killing machine.

A mindless killing machine. That's all she ever was to him. An extension of his own digits, like Eiserne Drossel was to Tira.

And slowly, very slowly, presence of mind returned to Tira. It was as though she had been awakened after a long sleep, and was only now readjusting her bearings. She grew upset that her master wanted to distance himself from her. She became increasingly bitter every time she killed, now. Her eyes, encasing jewels of violet, grew wet at the thought of her master's indifference. But she kept holding on to what she believed would win her master over: the revival of Soul Edge. Indeed, when Nightmare was restored to his former glory, he would duly appreciate all she had strained herself doing, would he not?

So thought Tira as she made her way past the ruined castle, the malice of which made the few villagers and passers-by who visited the land quail. She would prove she was not worthless, as her master believed, and contented herself with that belief.

At least for a while.

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Tira, tracking the spirit sword north, came in pursuit through the trees, hardly discernable through the oaken leaves that blended her patchwork outfit perfectly. If anything dared to give her away, it would be the violet pupils masked ever so often by her eyelids. Ever so she trekked, unpausing, swift as a hawk diving upon its prey. Yet her prey was not in her clutches. It knew it was being pursued. Ever and anon it changed direction, yet the hunter would not lose her bounty.

...until a sudden burst of light nearly burnt a hole through her left retina; with an unwitting gasp she stumbled upon a branch, and fell to the ground. Cursing, she drew herself up and turned her head to discover what had nearly blinded her in one eye.

Even from her distance, there was no mistaking him.

_What is the man with the scythe doing visiting Osthreinsburg_, Tira wondered. Obviously he wasn't there for any innocent reason. Then she cursed again. She had lost track of the spirit sword, and its wielder. Her master would be most displeased...

But she would witness what the man with the scythe was doing, yes she would. Maybe such a report would water down Nightmare's wrath that she had returned without the sword.

But he was not there.

That was strange. Tira could not feel her master's beloved dark aura anywhere around Osthreinsburg, now that she thought of it. Where had her master gone to? Surely...surely he hadn't gone after the spirit sword himself? He was still not strong enough! Tira turned her head away from the scene atop one of the castle battlements and fixed her gaze upon where she would have gone, had the blinding light not distracted her.

And then she jammed her eyelids shut, for another brilliant flash swept through the forested area around the castle.

Tira's attention was again drawn to the man with the scythe, for she definitely knew, by now, he was not there to see her master. He appeared to be summoning something, for his arm was outstretched, and bathed in a bluish glow. The glow intensified suddenly, and detached from his arm as he drew it away. Tira gazed, unable to tear her eyes away from the ancient magic, as the glow formed itself into a spherical shape, and darkened just as suddenly as it had separated from the man's arm, growing sizable enough to contain even a giant within its depths. Wearily, it seemed, the dark-skinned man drew out his arm again, which glowed bluish again. The darkened sphere emitted several beams of light alarmingly quick; one passed so close to Tira that she jumped back with a cry, but she wasn't the intended target, for bigger beads of light passed down from the beams towards the sphere as she watched.

_Souls_, the assassin realized. _He's drawing souls from around here, and adding them to his power! But how? Nightmare already claimed all the souls around Osthreinsburg! This isn't possible!_

Doubt left her as she jumped out of the shrubbery, escaping the forest entirely she leapt upon a raft that would take her directly across the river to where the battlement was.

"Grrrr, faster, faster!" Tira seethed at the raft, frustrated.

But something odd was happening, and the man with the scythe was already in the thick of it. The spherical ball of energy was no longer spherical, but churning, now distorting weirdly. Tira leapt from the raft and onto the tower's lower floor as she heard a "No!" and a rippling noise. It seemed as though he was losing control of his action. The beams of light had vanished. She jumped from plinth to plinth, with startlingly agility, and at last made it atop the battlements.

Evidently she had been expected, for a scythe nearly hewed her neck had she not rolled aside as the man swung at her, but still trying to calm the great deformed shape of energy that twisted and warped. Tira, with lightning-speed, lunged at the man, but instead of ripping into his torso, out of nowhere a boot to the midsection sent her flying back, almost over the tower.

"Begone! Little business do you have here, fool!" the man barked. "Leave me to my own!" He turned back to the energy shape, and this time it was his scythe that glowed, and a shockingly purple glow at that. He yelled and struck the shape at terminal velocity, intending to obliterate it.

His intention was denied; there was a crack, and Tira looked up in time to see the man, still grappling his scythe, go soaring, straight over her, and off the tower with a cry; she turned her head and looked down to see where he had gone, but he had already vanished. Giving no more thought to the man, she turned back to the mass of energy.

And saw that it was no longer just a mass of energy. Tira gasped; it appeared to be a doorway...but it was unlike any doorway she had come across; it seemed to be made of almost nothing but...

_Soul energy...what...how is this possible?_ Questions exploded through her head as they never had before. She did not think it was safe, at any rate, but she felt a certain attraction to it that she could not identify. She felt strangely nervous, yet excited, and approached it slowly. She could feel the energy of countless souls through this path...she would go through and collect them all for Nightmare! Surely such a hoard of souls would please him! And Tira would not have found them anyway but for the man with the scythe. She almost thanked him, yet something about his 'gift' scared her slightly. She had not known fear for a long, long time, but it was there again. Tira could sense that if she went through here, whatever which way she felt, whether brave, foolish, greedy, timid...she would be changed. She did not like the unknown. Even Nightmare, at first, intimidated her the last time she felt fear.

Her eyes went dull, and they seemed to cloud over, as if a storm grew within her. This was not new; Tira had noticed this in her eyes before, rinsing herself in the streams of Osthreinsburg after a pleasure killing. She figured it was her 'mark', since nobody else, it seemed, had the same cloudiness in their eyes. Not even her master. Though this did not affect Tira much; Nightmare's eyes eternally blazed with a flare so intense his very gaze would scorch the landscape.

And with that final thought of the Azure Knight, the one she felt so close to, and yet so very far away from, a savage recklessness far beyond control seized her. Whatever changes she had to endure, whatever toil she must lay herself towards, she would not let them hinder her. She would not fail her master again. The storm in her, billowing inside, now thundered through her veins.

She dived.

She fell into blackness.

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And that, my friends, is the prologue. The real first chapter will come, and the Spies appear in full force. Just have patience. Good things come to those who wait. ;)


	2. Reverie

A tasty prologue for sure..now, are you ready for some Spy goodness? A(n almost) purely Totally Spies chapter this is, but don't worry, more Soul Calibur action will be taking place quite soon. Now then...

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_Leitmotiv__ – Good to know you'll be following this! ^_^ As for how I'm going to make this work, you'll just have to read on and find out for yourself! Thanks for the review!_

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Disclaimer: I do not own anything by Namco Bandai or Marathon Inc. I do, however, have several smexy fanarts from both TS and SC...hehehe. Uh, ignore that.

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**Reverie**

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Beverly Hills High School – 11:23am

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_It was bliss. Too long had she been delayed, turned down, or else thwarted by __**her**__. But now...nothing could stop Clover Ewing from her everlasting bliss. Throwing her arms around her lover, David, they shared an embrace that seemed to last an eternity, and then, very slowly, they looked into each other's faces._

_Each saw peace and solace in their other's eyes. It was the kind of relief that neither had experienced since they had first laid eyes onto each other. But now they were together, and no threat within even time itself could separate them..._

_Their lips met..._

"MRS. EWING! Could you please pay attention when I am talking?"

"I'm-not-daydreaming-I-swear!" cried Clover in a quickly uttered slur as she sat bolt upright, her crystal-blue eyes now dilated with anxiety about having been caught napping in class for the umpteenth time this week. Several of her classmates snickered unpleasantly, to which Clover shot them a patronizing look.

"Oh really? Then kindly repeat the last lines of _Romeo & Juliet_ that I have recited," replied the teacher, slightly scornful.

"Oh, um... 'Romeo, Romeo...where are you, my hot, hunky - ' "

"Thinking about your love life again, aren't you..." the teacher sighed. "Clover, this must stop. This is the fourth time this has happened since Monday. If you cannot take your lesson seriously..."

"Of course I'm taking this seriously!" said Clover, shocked. "Otherwise why would I be here?"

This remark was met by more snickering, instantly quelled by the look the teacher gave them.

"When you are in my classroom, you will pay the utmost attention when I am speaking, and not allow yourself to wallow into dream land," said the teacher curtly. "And I warn you: if this happens again, I will have to report you to the principal."

Clover looked for a moment like she might argue, but then dropped her gaze and replied furiously, "Yes, miss."

"Good." The bell rang, and for Clover it could not have been more welcome. She gathered her books, and trotted off without a word, her two best friends on her heels. The teacher folded her arms and shook her head exasperatedly.

"Clover!" Clover's friends had caught up with her. She kept walking down the hall, her nose in the air, as though she didn't realize they were there.

"What's the matter with you?" said Samantha Simpson, her fiery-red curtain of hair swishing about her as she glared at Clover. "Thinking about boys when our mid-term is coming up?"

"Hey!" Clover turned right around to face Sam, a vein pulsing in her temple. "One, it's so not any of your business," she growled, pointing a finger at Sam's indignant face, "and two, it's only one boy."

"It's completely my business if you're not paying attention in class and have to copy notes off of me for the mid-term!" said Sam angrily.

"Maybe Clover's not getting enough sleep?" suggested Alex Vasquez helpfully. Alex was their other friend, her short but puffy black hair looking glossy in the brilliant sunlight through the window nearby. She looked between Clover and Sam uncertainly, afraid of a fight. She did not like to see her best friends at arms with each other as had happened before. Clover snatched quickly at Alex's words

"Well duh! Do you know how long it takes to find a decent pair of designer boots in Bev Hills?" she demanded. "You _know_ I totally have to look as best I can every day, and - "

"You just got your new boots last week!" said Sam in exasperated tones. "Are you telling me you're looking for a new pair of boots every day?"

Clover shrugged. "Wearing the same footwear every week is like _soooo _passé," she said with a little wave of her hand, as to signify her distaste.

Sam sighed. It was so very typical of Clover to act as such towards fashion. "Look, Clover," said Sam, "if you don't pass the English course with a good grade, you won't be going many places."

"Oh come _on_, Sammy, we all know how to speak English," said Clover, with another wave of the hand.

"And what will happen when you have to write a letter to a fashion agency stating you want to be a model?" Sam shot at her, grateful for the opportunity to shove this in Clover's face. Speaking of Clover's face, it had turned an ugly, blotchy red.

"They don't look at the letters much, Sam, they look at the model!" she shouted. "Besides I know perfectly well how to write a stupid letter! And what would you know about it? You don't take fashion courses anyway!"

"Maybe not, but unlike some people _I_ do my research," said Sam smugly.

"And unlike some people I happen to watch _America's Next Top Model_," said Clover, sticking out her tongue. At that Sam actually laughed. Again, so very typical of Clover, to get her ideas off a fashion reality show. Not that Sam knew Clover had been doing it for a while; Sam had only seen Clover changing the channel as she and Alex had come in for a movie night about a month ago.

"Well if you insist, Madame," Sam said mockingly. Then her scathing tone dropped, "but I think we should be getting our lunch now, don't you think?"

"Yes let's get some," said Alex quickly, preventing further argument, and they walked off to the cafeteria together, gabbling away about the upcoming Chemistry class.

It was March; a clear cloudless sky loomed over Beverly Hills, despite the fact that a blinding snowstorm had pounded the region for a few days before, ceasing early in the morning. Such snowstorms were rare in that region at this time of the year, but the jet stream had brought a cold front sweeping down on Southern California, and with it a sudden winter storm. The scenery around was piled with snow, slush, and in some cases foot-deep puddles on the roads, where some reckless driver would spray an unfortunate soul on the sidewalk with the runny sludge and earn several curses for their action. Earlier Sam herself had jumped back from a nasty spray courtesy of a 1999 Hyundai Tiburon.

Unfortunately for Sam and her friends, that was not even the start of their real troubles.

The girls had entered the cafeteria and had barely registered the familiar surroundings when something else strikingly familiar, but unpleasantly so, occurred. They felt a great pull, and next thing they knew, they were being sucked through a garbage can, of all things.

Which surprisingly led to a metal chute underground.

They screamed as they slid down, the air pulling at their faces and stretching them bizarrely.

"WHY DOES HE HAVE TO CALL JUST BEFORE LUUUUUUUUNCH?!?" Clover yelled.

Barely a second passed after her indignant howl, when they collided with a great big pink cushion. Which opened up into a wide metallic room, spilling the girls into it. They knew the room all too well, it belonged to Jerry Lewis, head of the World Organization Of Human Protection, or WOOHP.

"Greetings again, ladies. So nice of you to drop in, ho ho," said Jerry himself, chuckling.

"You don't think that's getting a bit old by now, Jer?" moaned Sam, rubbing her hinder; the cushion did not entirely save them from some pain.

"You should know by now that good jokes never grow stale, Samantha," replied Jerry with the ghost of a smirk.

"For some people," growled Clover. She had never appreciated Jerry's unexpected and repeated calls, accompanied by humiliation, a bit of pain and some ominous news that told them that they were about to go on a –

"Mission," said Alex resignedly. "You've got one for us, Jerry?"

"Indeed," said the old spy. The view screen appeared behind him, displaying a less-than-detailed map of the Earth. "And it is quite simple, as well." The map zoomed in on the United Kingdom as Jerry was talking. "A few years back, a technical engineer by the name of Reginald Thinley held an experiment in southern Birmingham. Needless to say - "

"He screwed up and now he wants revenge, just like almost every other villain we've had to haul back here," said Clover, yawning.

"Well actually, there is no revenge to it, accounting for lack of interference or sabotage," said Jerry. "However, his experiment consists of draining an exponential amount of electricity from nearby reserves and living completely under its power. It failed last time only because of his…incompetence, for lack of a better term. He has since illegally tapped into the entire United Kingdom system of hydro stations and reserves, and there is a high likelihood that his - "

"Experiment thingy will fail and jolly old England goes completely without power for a long time," yawned Clover. "Which results in us going there to kick his butt, right?"

"England is not the only part of the United Kingdom, Clover," said Jerry with a raise of the eyebrow. "And please do not interrupt me."

"Yeah Clover, don't you remember your geography?" smirked Sam, while Alex giggled slightly. The ugly red tone reappeared on Clover's face almost instantly.

"Don't you remember ever shutting up?!" she growled, then turned her back on Sam with a snort. "Hmph!"

"All right, what are the gadgets, Jerry?" said Sam, regaining her composure.

"Do let me finish explaining the rest of the mission first, however little there is left, Sam," said Jerry curtly. Sam nodded politely and the WOOHP boss went on. "Your task is relatively simple. First of all, you must seek out Professor Thinley's hideout. Reports say he has built up a small underground base below the town of Reading, and it is well protected. Where under the town it is, is not specified. You must infiltrate his base and put a stop to his plans. As for gadgets...you will need no new gadgets for this mission, and as such, all previous gadgets are in your packs," replied Jerry. "Oh, and…please do not fail, ladies, it is after all - "

"Your home country; don't worry, Jer, we'll put a stop to his plans, take him down, and still be back in time for our scheduled pedicures," said Clover smugly.

"Pedicures? I didn't know anything about pedicures," said Alex blankly, turning to look at Sam. Sam blinked.

"Clover…"

"All right, all right, so yesterday I kinda scheduled some pedicures for all of us in advance…but don't worry, I'm sure you both need them," the blonde said, chuckling. This did not go down well at all with Sam or Alex.

"Excuse me? We NEED them? " exclaimed Sam. "How dare you!"

"And now we have to pay for them!" shouted Alex. "I can't believe you'd do that to us, Clover!"

"Hey! I had good intentions in doing that!" said Clover, equally angry, glaring directly at Sam. "Well hey, if you don't want them, I _suppose_ I could just cancel the reservations," she added haughtily, but eyeing Alex rather ashamedly.

"That's a good idea," Sam scowled. Clover returned it with indignation and Alex was eyeing them nervously again.

Jerry sighed. "If you are through debating about your hygienic needs, ladies, there is a mission to attend to."

"Right Jerry, sorry about that," said Sam with a start, then flashed her friends a swift smile. "Uh, let's go, girls!"

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Reading, Berkshire – 11:58pm

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"Well, this is Reading, huh? Weird name for a city, I guess they all read books a lot," said Alex. Both Clover and Sam clapped a hand to their faces in exasperation; Alex wasn't the brightest in this regard.

"Uh Alex, I don't think that's what it means," muttered Clover.

"Yeah, this town was originally a settlement in the 8th century named after a man called _Reada_, 'The Red One'," said Sam. "Its people were called the _Readingas_, or 'Reada's People'."

"Such a great little bookworm you are," smirked Clover, "but how's about we find us an underground base, huh?"

"Yeah, let's do that," said Sam sheepishly. She took out her trusty X-Powder and scanned the area for any abnormal activity. Evidently the search proved rather fruitless as a moment later she remarked, "Seems pretty normal…we'd better go around town and look for clues. Tackling the local hydro facility would be a good bet."

"Sounds like a plan," Clover agreed, and Alex assured this with a "Totally!"

"Hold on…we should try to cover more ground," said Sam. "We'll find something faster that way. Clover, you check the outskirts of town. Alex, you follow power lines and see if there's anything wrong or suspicious about them. We'll contact each other in about an hour to report our findings. Good idea?"

"Good idea," echoed Clover in a bored voice, while Alex nodded, they set off. Clover took to the skies in her jetpack while Sam and Alex went off in opposite ways across Reading.

But much to Clover's chagrin, there was hardly anything to find. To and fro she flew but nothing seemed to look out of place. The sleepy town bathed in the moonlight, but even the light given off from the planetary satellite could not clarify any irregularities that may have lurked in the grassy fields around Reading. Of course Clover didn't know exactly what to look for, but anything out of place would surely be a marker. Unfortunately, it seemed vain. After what seemed like an hour, Clover cursed under her breath and took out her own X-Powder to contact Sam.

"Sam, there's nothing here, and I'm getting damned tired," she spoke into it tersely.

"Just keep looking! I haven't found any leads yet either but a mission's a mission," Sam's voice replied. "How's Alex doing?"

"Just fine!" spoke up Alex's voice, "but I haven't found anything yet either! Can we go home now?"

"We have to wait for Jerry's signal, Alex," said Sam. "I'm tired too but we can't give up yet."

"All right, but if this goes any further I'm making Jerry do my mid-term for me," growled Clover as she closed the X-Powder and continued flying for a few minutes. At that moment she saw the ruins of a wooden train car in a field below. This struck Clover as a bit odd, there were no tracks around anywhere…she flew down to it.

"Huh, what a wreck," remarked the blonde as she peered at it. Only the walls and floor were there to hold it up, the floor appeared to have been ripped away completely, and the cart door blasted open. Clover cautiously approached it. Shingles were missing and some that remained appeared to have been burned straight through. She quickly put her back to the side, then took a quick glimpse into the car…and then a longer one. Still a wreck, it seemed, except for a few large crates that looked unharmed. She went in; something was behind the crates, she was sure of it…

"GOTCHA!" Clover shouted triumphantly as she leapt upon…two stacked mattresses and a woollen pillow. "Aww…"

Brilliant violet light suddenly streamed through the cart, almost blazing through Clover's irises as her eyelids snapped shut to protect them. "What the hell?!" she exclaimed in confusion, but could do little more with word of tongue. She bolted outside, ready for a fight…

But there was nothing. Light stopped, no source, no enemies…nothing. The confusion was infuriating.

"Come _on!_" Clover kicked a rock in frustration, then stomped. "Urrrrrgh!"

The stomp, however, did more than vent Clover's anger slightly. It kicked up some dirt…uncovering something very irregular indeed. It was several moments before Clover noticed it.

"Hey, cool," grinned the blonde spy. She bent down to peer at it. It was a very, very thick orange wire. Random wires weren't just buried in the ground like that…Clover continued to smirk as she got out her X-Powder and opened it.

"Sam! I've got something!" she called into it.

"Clover? What is it?" came the reply.

"Yeah I found something…well, not really normal. I guess there's this big wire buried in the ground," said Clover. "It's…pretty thick. And orange."

Sam's face appeared on the X-Powder for the first time. "Hmm, looks like visuals were down, but they're back up now," she mused. "Anyway, what's this about a buried wire? There are actual wires buried in the ground for different communication lines."

"Are they thick and orange like this one?" Clover held the X-Powder to the orange wire so Sam could see it.

"Whoa…I guess not," said Sam. "Good find. Follow where it goes, then send us your co-ordinates, then we'll meet up with you. I'll see if Alex has found anything now."

"No, not yet!" came Alex's voice after a moment's pause; her face appeared next to Sam's on a split screen. "Did Clover find something?"

"Yeah she found a weird power line underground," Sam told her, "we don't know where it goes yet, though…I'm going to continue searching here though for a little while longer."

"Yeah I'll let you both know what else I find, see you!" Clover closed the X-Powder again and looked down. Finally, a lead…things seemed to be looking up.

But what was up with that light, earlier? Surely random bursts of illumination were not normal? The way it singed her eyes for a moment, too…

And what was that strange feeling she was starting to have…? It was as though something was watching her…from all directions…

Little did she know she would soon be in for the fight for her life…

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A/N: Finally, FINALLY the actual Chapter 1 is done! I'm sorry it took so long! D: Other things repeatedly, repeatedly got in the way and I apologize most dearly for it! I hope Chapter 2 doesn't take this long. Speaking of which, that chapter has the first real crossing over of the two worlds…stay tuned!


	3. Face to Face

Well, how's about we continue this right where we left off, shall we? :D

Disclaimer: I own everything about TS and SC...that I have on DVD, consoles, and my laptop. Yes, yes, I still wish I owned both things wholly, but alas! such is life.

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**Face to Face

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"Hurray! I found a new one!"

Clover barely had a split-second to register the jubilant shriek before something with horrible speed appeared seemingly out of nowhere, closing in fast. She didn't even have time to glance at her assailant. Only her WOOHP-hardened spy reflexes defied the unusual weapon aimed at the jugular, and propelled Clover backwards to temporary safety some twenty feet away as the blade missed her by mere inches.

The assassin, amazingly having touched the ground light upon impact, had risen to her feet. Clover, about to utter some taunting remark, lost her voice completely upon full sight of her would-be killer.

The girl looked no less than 17 or 18 years old, nor no older, and she was clad in the most bizarre outfit Clover had ever seen in her life. The top appeared to be nothing more than a weathered green tunic, weathered in that it had been torn and slashed so viciously that great strips were missing near its bottom. A few of the tears had been unsuccessfully stitched up, and others revealed a great deal of her chest; in fact, if it were not for several fragile threads of green cloth, her fairly-sized breasts would have been wholly exposed. Exposed also, by such openings, were several streaks of violet body paint, one of which ran across her face. She wore long purple gloves, and her tight leggings had been drawn up by a belt of the same colour, except with a gold ring in the middle. Shin guards had been wrapped onto her ankles and her footwear had also been stitched up. What looked like green feathers, a fuller green than on the outfit, had been placed around her wrists, neck, and thighs. The face might have looked nice if it weren't curled in a cruel leer, and she had a beauty mark under her right eye. The area around her eyes were shadowed and almost green themselves. Her hair looked so _wild_, and was of a most unnatural teal colour, and her lips were emerald. This appearance would not have looked out of place at a circus.

Clover didn't really see much of the girl's eyes, however; she was now staring at the surreal weapon held aloft. It was of a circular shape, and looked to be made of tempered steel. Along three equal points it broke into an equal amount of sharp points. It didn't look very thick, and this may have explained how the young woman was able to wield it. She looked rather thin, but there was no sign of fatigue given off at all. In fact, a savage happiness seemed to radiate from her, judging by her expression. She would have looked very humorous if the effect wasn't so frightening. Surely Dr. Thinley wouldn't have sent someone like this after Clover, she looked much too primitive, or so Clover thought.

Perhaps that was what held back Clover's voice, fear. Or perhaps it was the shock of seeing someone in the most outlandish-looking costume ever. Whatever it was, it seemed to take away all the witty phrases that had come to Clover's mind whenever she, Sam, and Alex were away fighting other criminals.

"Who the hell are you?" was what finally escaped from Clover's hoarse throat.

The girl made no impression that she had heard Clover at all. Instead, with a bestial roar, she lunged at Clover again with inhuman speed, eyes widening in excitement.

Not for nothing was Clover one of WOOHP's most dedicated spies, however, and expecting an attack like this made Clover's evasiveness far easier. Like a cat she snuck aside, and the blow went wide. But even as Clover swung about to land an attack herself, her feet were knocked out from under her and with a cry she fell to her back. Rolling aside to avoid a beheading from the ring blade, embedding itself in the ground where her neck was previously, Clover flipped up and slammed her feet into the girl's abdomen, sending her flying back with a shriek. Clover would have grinned slightly at such a challenge if the sensed intent wasn't to kill her like this. But she was unable to, as Sam and Alex would have said, 'keep her fat mouth shut'.

"Want more, freak?" called Clover. "Or if you weren't trying to kill me I'd help find something for you to wear that doesn't make you look like Frankenstein's bride."

The answer to such a remark was a flung weapon out of the blue. Clover yelled and leapt aside as the ring blade passed her with the force of a sonicboom, penetrating a tree she was positioned in front of and nearly snapping the trunk cleanly in two. Clover turned to stare at the girl, and realized she was no longer there...until a pair of feet collided with Clover's shoulders, sending her to the ground. Such was the speed of the deranged girl that before Clover had finished skidding across the ground, she was upon her. Bouncing off Clover's stomach the assassin shot like a rocket towards the tree and tore her blade out of the large oak, a little clumsily as she landed off-balance, and Clover seized her chance. Running forward, she leapt into the air before the girl was aware of her again, and landed a devastating kick to the chest that sent the girl screaming down. Unsure of whether the assassin would recover quick enough, Clover dove upon the girl and went for a punch. What Clover received was considerable pain, for the girl had held the blade up and Clover had slammed her fist into the flat side of it, shrieking upon contact and taking several steps away as she gazed at her fist in agony. The girl got up, laughing unpleasantly.

"Errrgh...you better not have made me break a nail..." Clover growled.

"Why are you worried about that?" sneered the assassin. "You should be more worried about your life!" With that, she advanced on Clover with the same horrible speed, her laughter taking a more hysterical tone.

"You take mine, and yours isn't gonna be so pretty either!" shot back the Spy, and she flew aside again, and jumped up before the young woman could repeat the same trick. However, she didn't. Before Clover knew what had just happened, something lodged itself around Clover's throat; it was the inside lining of the ring blade. It was then pulled against her neck with great pressure and she felt herself being pulled to the ground, the assassin landing too, and slammed hard against it. Nearly every nerve in her body had screamed at that meeting of earth and body, and Clover had no time to gather her thoughts before the girl backflipped on top of her, pinning Clover, and had her blade at the jugular. Fear tore through Clover as though the blade had already pierced her, and she suddenly thought of her friends, and how very far away, it seemed, that they were.

"I can't wait to see your death, it's going to look amazing!" cackled the assailant, looking insanely delighted.

"Wh-why are you doing this...?" cried Clover in terror. "Y-you can't be one of..._his_ goons, it's not - "

"What?" the girl's voice took a frightening turn; it was lower and slightly more raspy. She leaned in closer, and her happiness turned on its head. "How do you know of Nightmare?"

"Huh?" Clover was perplexed. "Wh-what's Nightmare? What are you talking about?"

"Oh..." the girl sounded insanely happy again. "Nothing. Nothing you'll ever live to know about!"

Just in time, Clover caught the blade as the girl pressed it upon her and, though the blade sliced into her palms slightly, forced it upward and over her head, then let go. The assassin cried out as she lost balance and fell upon Clover, the blade missing by a wide margin, and Clover elbowed her three times in the side in the head. With a grunt the girl fell away and let go of her weapon, which Clover coming seized off the ground. She looked through it with vague curiously.

"Yeah, you could hurt someone with this thing," said Clover blithely, her personality having returned to her again. "It'd be a good idea if you didn't try to make your own hula hoop, weirdo, because you really messed up bad, here."

The assassin got up, snarling. She wasn't going to let this bitch humiliate her, especially not after that act. With a scream she jumped into the air for another attack.

"Bring it on!" said Clover. "You're nothing without this hula hoop or whatever-it-is." She threw the girl's weapon behind her and met the girl's kick with a forearm guard, then turned and returned the kick quickly, watching in satisfaction as her foot connected with the girl's head, sending her flying again.

Now that she was winning, Clover's confidence also made a comeback as she walked over to the kneeling form of the assassin. The girl looked frustrated, and glared up at Clover with such hatred in her eyes -

_A gleam of violet._

Both of them cried out at the same time, and held their hands to their eyes as though an electric current had passed through them simultaneously. Something had gone through Clover's body, and she didn't know what exactly it was, but it scared her. She wondered whether the girl had played a trick on her, but Clover was doubtful. Her mind's eye was completely full of the girl's eyes, with brilliantly violet pupils...but the whites of the eyes were almost completely dark. Clover didn't know what to think of them, but it was strangely tempting...

The girl was staring at Clover. "What did you do to me?" she growled, the raspy voice back again.

"To you? What the hell did you do to ME?" said Clover angrily. She did not care much that the girl seemed to have experienced, more or less, the same shock and vision.

But the girl had lost control. Whatever she had seen, it had fueled something of confusion, rage, or something more sinister, and not bothering for a calculated tactic she launched herself upon Clover, her face hideously disfigured. Still distracted by what _she_ had seen, Clover was much too slow to react and the girl tackled her to the ground, and delivered a swift punch to the face. In the middle of throwing another, the girl felt herself thrown sideways by another few elbows from Clover, but got up much more quickly. At first Clover thought the girl was about to step on her face and shielded it with her arms, but then noticed the girl had stepped over her. With a horrible jolt Clover realized that she was going after her blade again, and now she was too near to it for Clover to stop her. As she reclaimed her weapon, the girl spoke in the same harsh voice.

"You'll be dead before you know it..."

And suddenly, the girl became a blur of varied shades of green, purple, and grey. Clover had barely gotten to her feet before a flash of silver impacted with her abdominal area. If she hadn't pulled herself back, it would have sliced her into halves, but nonetheless a deep gash found its way onto her body, and Clover screamed as her blood flew and spurted the ground. Never before had she experienced pain like this, even on her missions; she hadn't even been wounded, unless one counted the times she had broken a nail, and that was negligible. This...this was beyond the realms of mortal pain. Clover fell back upon the ground, a rough tumble, and lay there holding her abdomen in agony, crying, crying...she didn't even notice that the girl was standing over her, the evil smile relit upon her maniacal face.

"What a big disappointment!" said the girl. "I guess I'll have to listen to your screams, then!"

And Clover screamed again, for another swish of the blade and she was left with a slashed thigh; again, it was lucky that she had instinctively pulled her leg back a bit, or else she would have faced amputation. Tears flooded down her face, blood flowed from her wounds onto the ground; anguished, she gazed up at what would surely be her killer -

_A gleam of violet._

The girl suddenly clamped a hand to her eyes again; Clover did not. She felt the wave surge through her, but the pain was distracting her. She had seen the eyes of the girl again...the shockingly violet pupils with the deadened whites of the eyes surrounding them, and it was as though the sight of them was branded in the Spy's mind. More disturbing, however, was yet again she was ever-so-slightly tempted by those eyes...

Her assailant seemed to have seen her own vision again, as well. Frustration was etched onto her face.

"What are you doing to me?" she snarled. She approached Clover again, eyes bulging. "Stop it! Stop doing that!"

"I don't...I...I don't know what you're talking about...!" said Clover, looking horrified. She backed away as best as she could. "Get away from me...you freak!"

The girl roared in anger and raised her blade for the killing blow –

_A gleam of violet._

It happened a third time. Now the girl dropped her blade, and realizing what had just happened screamed in frustration. Clover was becoming freaked out now, by everything...she remembered her X-Powder, but it was too far away...she couldn't call for help...she couldn't explain to Sam what was happening...the girl, her appearance, her eyes...her eyes...

Then she knew a world of pain; the girl had launched herself upon Clover's body and Clover screamed once more, the weight of the girl pressing against the gash in her stomach. Before she could scream any more, a pair of hands suddenly closed themselves around Clover's throat, and she gagged as they tightened.

"I'll kill you!" screeched the girl. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Her grip was too tight and Clover couldn't summon enough strength to push the girl's arms away, she was dying, spots were bursting in front of her eyes, everything was fading, including the girl, who was consumed by madness, shrieking, looking at Clover in the eyes as she died...it would be the last thing Clover saw -

_A gleam of violet._

Another scream. If Clover hadn't felt the pressure on her neck contract, she wouldn't have been surprised. She supposed she had died, the violet eyes were still in front of her...how long would she see them before she moved on?

Then it dawned on her: _she was still alive_. She blinked, several times. The girl's face was still in front of her. Had Clover mustered up enough strength, she would have thrown the girl off of her again, but reality returned to her in the form of her open wounds which sent signals of pain running through her. Strange...why wasn't she dead yet? Why had the girl stopped choking her?

Her mouth opened...and a little blood sickeningly dropped from it down the side of her neck.

"Why..." Clover croaked, "why did you...?"

But then she read the girl's face...it was oddly blank. Compared to what had transpired earlier, it looked...normal. Except for the eyes...there was no shock now, no tremor that ran through her. Clover looked into the girl's eyes again. The violet pupils hadn't changed, nor had the deadened look to the whites of the eyes.

Had the girl been possessed? Clover knew, vaguely, of ghosts and vengeful spirits that committed horrible deeds during nighttime...but if that were the case, wouldn't the eyes be different?

"Why...didn't you kill me...?" said Clover thickly, with an effort.

The girl did not answer. Her vacant expression remained etched onto her face, though her eyes continued looking into Clover's as though trying to find her soul. Then, very slowly, and nearly killing Clover with very amazement, the empty look slowly mutated into...fear. She started to tremble, and tears of her own rolled down her cheeks.

"What have I done..." she muttered. "Forgive me...please..."

Clover gaped. This was likely the least expected event to occur, and for a moment she really was convinced that she had died and gone to heaven. But again the pain brought her back down to earth an she gritted her teeth. This sight made the girl break down, sobbing loudly. Clover didn't know what to think, but there was no time for delicateness.

"What...the fuck is wrong with you?" she uttered at last. "You attack me...send me on one hell of a binge with your eyes...nearly kill me...and now...THIS? Just...just who the hell do you think you are?" Clover yelled.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know it was you!" wailed the girl, head in hands.

"Didn't..." About to retort at 'I'm sorry!', Clover was confused. "Didn't know it was...me? What are you - ?"

"I've been looking for you...all my life!"

Upon hearing that, Clover's mind nearly imploded. She gaped again. "Wh-what...I don't..."

"I've been searching for a person that's like me - "

"WHAT? I'm nothing like you!" Clover yelped.

"No! Don't say that!" the girl whined. "We have to be alike! Have to! I saw it!"

Her expression was more or less pleading, and given the condition Clover was in, she had no intention of making the girl angry again, and changed tack. "How...how did you see it?" she croaked.

"Your eyes..." the girl sighed. "They're like mine...please forgive me, I wouldn't have attacked you if I didn't - "

"But – but - " spluttered Clover: this made no sense at all, "yours are purple and grey...mine are blue and white."

"Yours have white in them?" Now the girl looked confused. "I saw sapphire...and the same grey like mine."

"Huh?" The matter was breaking itself into a stranger puzzle. Neither Sam nor Alex had mentioned anything about Clover's eyes after they had split up during the mission, although...Alex had stared at her rather weirdly before they had... "I don't have grey in my eyes," said Clover flatly.

"But it's there!" whined the girl. "You have a dark side...and you must have a light side, too...you struggle with both your sides like I do, please believe me!" She got off of Clover and sat beside her, who seemed unable to speak. Light side? _Dark_ side? What the hell...

Abandoning her attempts to figure this out for now, Clover voiced another thing she had been wondering.

"What's your name...?"

With a smile, the girl answered, "Tira."

* * *

A/N: Ugh...so long to finish this chapter. Anyway, this one confuses you, yes? Worry not! Next chapter will tie a few loose ends...and get on to some good stuff. Stay tuned! ;)


	4. There For You

I'm-a not stopping now!

_PinkPanther123_ _– _Oh yes, there is a dark side to Clover, and it WILL be interesting, I promise you. :D Thanks for the rev! ^^

Disclaimer: I WANT YOU...to know that I own nothing here. So far, that is.

* * *

**There For You**

**

* * *

**

"_Where am I..."_

_Tira lifted her head...moonlight had bathed her. She lay upon a hard surface, and didn't know what it was, but knew that it was at least above ground. She held her forehead. It was as though she had been taken to another realm. Where exactly was she? A grassy area for miles, it seemed, with a few isolated trees. Didn't look too extraordinary..._

_ She tried to recall what exactly that flash of light was, for she knew it had happened after she jumped...she thought she had heard somebody yelling afterward, too, but what it was had passed beyond recall._

_ Then she saw a young woman run out from under where she was standing. Tira quickly dropped down to hide herself. That must have been who was yelling before, she thought. Peering over the edge of the platform, Tira gazed at the person. She was very pretty. Her medium-length hair spread out in a fan shape and seemed to be made of almost pure gold. A fringe hid one of her eyes somewhat, though at that distance and angle it was near on impossible to really see into the woman's eyes anyway, and she had a proud yet elegant face; it was as though she was of royal lineage. The outfit the woman bore was ever-so-slightly similar to that of the Fu-Ma ninja, Taki, that Tira had encountered at Osthreinsburg not long ago, and neither had overcome the other at that meeting. It was a red full body suit, a darker red stripe going down the middle, and it appeared to have been held in place by a silver belt with a heart clasp. Very pretty indeed...but as far as she could see, the woman held no visible weapon...Tira's mind began to race, as did her heart, the adrenaline coursing through her veins like liquid flame. What a perfect gift to her master! Surely this woman's soul must be powerful...Nightmare would not think so lowly of her anymore if she presented him with such a feast!_

_ The blonde-haired woman had pulled out something. Tira stared. The woman appeared to be speaking into it. She had a slightly strange voice, seemingly overemphasizing and accented. It was almost...silly. Then she heard another voice..._it seemed to be speaking OUT of the thing..._how was that possible? It must be magic, somehow...Tira longed to find out who the other person was...but no...one kill would do for now. Tira's mouth curved into a wicked grin. As the woman stopped speaking, Tira made her move. She dived..._

_

* * *

_

"Tira?"

She sat, lost in thoughts of minutes previously. It seemed years ago since she had first looked upon the woman, but Tira was confident that, finally, she had found the one who was like her. She couldn't let this chance pass her by.

"Tira?" repeated the woman. "That's your name, huh?"

"Ooh, yes!" said Tira, coming out of her reverie. "That's me. That's...all I can remember," she added lamely.

"All you can remember...?" grunted the blonde woman. "Who exactly are you? What do you have to do with me?"

Tira racked her brain, trying to think...Nightmare had stationed her at Osthreinsburg to kill Siegfried, find new hosts for Soul Edge after that and, any time in-between, harvest powerful souls that Nightmare would collect. But Nightmare was by-the-by now...it was the woman who concerned her most.

Those eyes...those beautiful sapphire eyes...as she had glowered up at the woman the first time, there was a flash of brightest blue, and Tira had recoiled. The eyes were haunting her still, the sapphire pupils, and the blackened look of the whites...the same blackened look in her own eyes...even Nightmare did not share such a trait, there was only fire, and the very malice which made her quail. It had to be...there could be no coincidence.

"Someone...sent me to collect souls for him," Tira mumbled at last. "And I found you...I'm so sorry..."

The woman was nonplussed. "Is this...the Nightmare you were talking about?"

"Yes," said Tira shamefacedly. "You see, I'm his...his..."

"His what?" said the woman sharply.

"Slave."

* * *

A slave...Clover couldn't believe it. This girl was a slave to someone? No one Clover knew would ever, EVER do such a thing to somebody else. Even Tara was more like an assistant than a...Clover nearly snickered, and mentally kicked herself to almost doing so. There was nothing humourous about the situation, and the fact that Clover hadn't been killed yet told her that this was no trick, but it was still quite disconcerting. Was this Tira really a...?

"You're a slave?" said Clover blankly.

Tira nodded. "Nearly all my life."

Clover tried to sit further up, and regretted doing so at once with a yell; the crevasses in her stomach and thigh were still dripping blood and nearly paralyzed her with pain. She fell back with a tortured face, and more tears leaked from her eyes. At this, Tira cupped her hands to her mouth in a mixture of pity and horror.

"Here - !" Tira attempted to hoist Clover by the upper arms over to the oak tree nearby. Clover shrieked and would have fought her off, provided she had the power to do so, but pain and exhaustion swamped her and she allowed the girl to drag her back to the tree. Managing to get Clover into a sitting position, Tira rested the Spy's head against the tree and took her place beside her.

"Is that...a little better?" asked Tira timidly. She got a cough in response as Clover spat blood onto the ground beside her and groaned.

"Get me...that thing...please," she wheezed, pointing at the X-Powder. Tira got up at once and retrieved it for her. Opening it, she tried getting a hold of her friends. "Sam...Sam, come in..." she grunted.

"What's that thing?" asked Tira curiously.

"None of your business," retorted Clover. "Sam... Alex... Jerry... anybody... goddamnit, answer!"

Static.

"Shit..." she threw the X-Powder as hard as her squandered strength could supply, and closed her eyes, trying to ignore the hurts given to her, failing rather extravagantly. There was a long silence...Tira broke it.

"What's your name? You know mine, but...I want to know yours."

Clover opened an eye. "Clover," she muttered, closing the eye again.

"Clover...that's a pretty name," remarked Tira softly.

Clover did not reply to this, but tried to sit further up against the tree, gritting her teeth against the pain.

"Is...is there anything I can do to help?" said Tira. She looked very scared, as though Clover would suddenly turn on her and attack, and the worst of it was that Tira would have deserved it.

"If you know a good surgeon, that's a start," Clover moaned.

"What?"

"I said, if you know a good surgeon, that's a start."

"But what's that?"

"Huh?" Clover stared at Tira. "You...don't know what a surgeon is?"

"No...what is it?"

"Well... err... it's someone who can fix your body up, I guess," said Clover weakly.

"I've never heard of anybody who can do that," said Tira in awe. "I mean, there are people who pray for healing to injuries and sickness, and there are - "

"PRAY for healing?" Clover managed to snort in despite. "What, are you from Medieval Times or something?"

"That was at least four hundred years ago, wasn't it?" said Tira.

Clover turned to stare at her again. Hardly daring to believe herself, she asked, "What year is it...?"

"Umm...I think it's 1591."

"You..." Clover's jaw nearly detached from her head. _This girl is from... the 16__th__ century? Well that explains one hell of a lot; the weaponry, the tacky outfit, asking about the X-Powder, not knowing what a surgeon is... but..._

"But... but how did you get here?" Clover uttered, at length.

"What do you mean?" Tira cried. "Aren't I still in that year?"

"No! It's... it's 2007 right now!"

* * *

To say Tira was scared right now would have been a severe understatement. She felt like she could tear herself apart. Everything was gone. Osthreinsburg was gone, Nightmare was gone... Nightmare... how would she get back to him? Or did she even want to, now? Now she was stuck with...the one who she was destined to find, or so it seemed.

And the black man with the scythe...HE did this...though, admittedly, he seemed to have no control over what he had done. And then Tira had entered the portal through her own curiosity, so she at least had some blame. And she had forewarned herself...she had foreseen it... she would be changed forever if she crossed the boundary. Tira could not see how the change would happen...perhaps it involved Clover? Wait...was this meant to occur? To free her from Soul Edge?

But no, the evil sword still existed. And it would find her, nail down exactly where she was, no matter where she fled to. She could tell. She had two choices right now; one... to pass up what she had seen in Clover's eyes, kill her, and return to being the sword's servant. But there was no love there, no kinship. Only a purpose, and once that purpose was fulfilled, Tira would be devoured just like any other wretch in the sword's way. Tira could see it all too clearly now. The other choice was to stay here with Clover, and risk being found and killed by Nightmare, when he came. It would only be dying at a later time, and as an enemy, and Clover would be killed too. But then Clover would be killed either way.

_Or would she?_ Questions still raged in Tira's head. _Was I brought here so that Clover could protect me from Soul Edge? Wait! Could she be the one to fight it, if it comes? If there's a way back, do I take her back to fight it?_ Tira trembled. _No! It's too powerful! I can't let her die!_ Only the waning strength of the spirit sword could combat Soul Edge, and that was left behind with Siegfried. Only too hopeless now did Tira find the situation. No one could aid the spirit sword, at least, no one she knew or had known, and no one could stop the cursed sword. It would devour Soul Calibur at this point... but she would not let it take Clover first, when it came.

"Tira?"

Tira shook her head. Clover was calling her, and for the first time she looked concerned, as Tira gazed at her, fuzzy thoughts dispelled for now. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it. She didn't know where to begin, but even as she struggled to find words to express what she felt, Clover took matters out of her hands.

"How did you get here?"

* * *

The question came to her without really thinking. It would, at least, be a good start to know exactly how Tira got here, even if she didn't know Tira's full story yet. She winced, and Tira about to speak again paused.

"But you're hurt..." Tira whined. "Because of... me... isn't there anything I can do to make up for it?"

"Maybe later," grunted Clover, "but I'll survive for now. So yeah... how did you get here?"

Tira glanced uneasily at Clover, then burst out, "Some doorway."

"A doorway? What, you mean like a portal?" said Clover. _Typical_, she thought.

"I guess so... but I was at the castle at Osthreinsburg when it - "

"Ost-what?"

"Oh, Osthreinsburg, it's this big watery land with many islands in it and a big castle in the middle, it's where Nightmare dwelt for a time, and... near where I became his servant," Tira muttered.

"You _became_ - ?"

"His servant, yes," sniffed Tira. "Well... I suppose I have to tell you everything now, yes?"

"Better sooner than later," answered Clover. "It would clear a hell of a lot of things up."

Tira trembled. "You'll think really badly of me if I do," she said anxiously. "Really, really badly."

"If I could, I'd kick your ass for what you've done to me already," said Clover angrily. "Now tell me."

With a bit of a whimper, Tira began: "Okay... it's as far as I can remember... I was employed by a cult called the Bird of Passage, they were known for assassinating people of high rank. All I know is that I was very young when they assigned me... I might have even been raised as a killer from birth..."

"Killer..." Clover trembled as Tira looked at her out of the corner of her eyes, suddenly stricken by the piercing gaze. "You mean..."

"I killed lots and lots of people," said Tira. "Maybe even hundreds after I became enslaved by the sword."

She watched, grieved, as Clover's face slowly drained of what colour remained in it.

_I'm... I'm sitting face to face with a mass murderer..._ Clover's hands shook."Go on," she croaked.

"Well, something happened which caused the Bird of Passage to break up and that freed me from their command. I think people called it the Evil Seed...but after that I couldn't stop killing...there was one family who took me in, but I murdered them..." Tira whispered, hands grasping at her own face. It was as though the appearance of Clover had finally shown her the true line between right and wrong, and guilt came to her in a sickening wave.

"But... but... but... why are you remorseful NOW?" said Clover, horrified. Never had she wanted to run so badly...

"I'll get to that... I was trying to find someone who was like me. I mean," Tira cut across Clover, who was about to open her mouth again, "someone who was like me in regards to my... well, soul. Not in the terrible habit that the Bird of Passage had taught me... but I thought it was like that at first. I couldn't... stop..."

_In other words, killing is a drug she can't get off of..._ Clover thought. _And she was fucking high..._

"...then I heard about mass murders somewhere, so I tracked them all down and met Nightmare."

"Who is this Nightmare guy?" said Clover.

"He's..." Looking fevered, Tira ran her fingers through her hair, "...pure evil, really. He was responsible for all the mass murders I had heard about after being released from the Bird of Passage. I tracked him down because I thought my emotions were like his, because he was a murderer too... I thought he felt like I did..."

"You thought - ?"

"I was wrong! I was wrong!" wailed Tira suddenly, pounding the ground with her fists. "He didn't show me anything that we were to be! He used me! Used me like a tool!" Then Tira's voice became harsh again; anger flamed in her eyes, her face demented; Clover shrank away from her in fright. "No further purpose, dropped and broken when needed no longer! That's all it ever was, wasn't it? Taking advantage of me, my... my situation... my... my..."

Her voice faltered, her eyes upon the blonde Spy, and she became quite quiet, gazing at her. The look upon her face was no longer demented; it was tearful, almost as terrified as Clover's.

"I...I'm sorry," squeaked Tira. "I didn't mean to go so far..."

"It's okay," said Clover, intensely relieved, and for the first time managing a nervous smile. "K-keep going."

"Well I became... _his_ servant..." Tira scowled a bit, "and then I went on huge killing sprees, looking to destroy the man with the spirit sword."

"The what?"

"Oh yeah! Um... Nightmare is actually the will of an evil sword called Soul Edge, and he wields something that looks like it. The sword is legendary, and it's killed thousands of people - "

"I d-don't know how much more death I can take," Clover gulped. "And I'm just an innocent Valley girl..."

Tira frowned at her slightly, then continued. "Nightmare told me to kill the one who holds a sword that can combat Soul Edge. I've heard it being called Soul Calibur, the Holy Sword, the Spirit Sword, and other names in rumours...though they're only rumours," she added lamely. "I don't know if it's powerful enough."

"And how'd you get here? Exactly?" asked Clover.

"A man with a scythe made the doorway to here...wherever here is. He was at Osthreinsburg for some reason. Nightmare assigned me there when he found that I couldn't find the one with the spirit sword. He told me the one would be drawn there somehow, so I waited..." Tira paused for a second. "It was at that time I was starting to realize he didn't show me any affection... he went away all by himself gathering souls."

"Well why didn't you stop him, when you knew that?" cried Clover.

"Are you crazy?" cried Tira; fear showed in her face. "He's too powerful! There's no way I would have stood against him, even at that time when he was less powerful! To him I'm just... just... weak." She hung her head.

Words did not occur immediately to Clover here. At last, she grunted, "Well you were strong enough to lay me down like this, although I'll have to pay you back for these." She indicated her abdominal and thigh wounds, scowling.

"You don't understand," cried Tira. "Nightmare's levels of power are enough to destroy towns within minutes, no one is that powerful, no one except... maybe..."

"That holy sword you were talking about?" supplied Clover.

"Yes, that. I don't know if I can believe it or not, or if I even should, if there isn't another power out there..."

"Okay that's fine and all," said Clover, "but you haven't told me how this scythe guy got you here."

Dimly, Tira recalled Zasalamel's harvesting of souls, and its backfire, and explained this to Clover.

"But that would mean it'd still be here!" she cried. "That doorway thingy or whatever."

"What do YOU mean?" said Tira. Then she looked scared. "No! You can't possibly be thinking of going there?"

"Why not?" said Clover. "If there's evil there, then I'm gonna teach it a lesson, it's what I do...well, me, Sam and Alex anyway. That's right," she added. "We fight criminals a lot, and I MEAN a lot. Normally, if it's somewhere else, I wouldn't give a damn, but if what you say is true then this guy is really powerful, and he could do a lot of damage. If you could get through here, he sure as hell can and I'm not gonna let him kill any people here."

Tira didn't seem to have heard any of the latter part of that. "You can't go, Clover, please don't think of going!" she pleaded. "He'll kill you, and I don't want to lose you! Please!"

Clover registered how very strange it was that Tira was reminding her of Alex in this regard. Now she knew how Tira got here, but still could honestly not see why Tira thought they were alike. She chanced this topic again.

"You don't want to lo - ...you say we're alike because of our eyes?" she gasped. "How do you figure that one?"

"Like I said, no one shares this trait with me, no one...except you now," said Tira, suddenly and alarmingly awed.

"But like _I_ said, _I_ don't have dark eyes," snapped Clover. "I'll prove it; get me my X-Powder."

"Your - ?"

"The thing I threw earlier."

Tira got up again to retrieve the X-Powder, and handed it to Clover. The Spy kept noticing Tira gazing at her, as though she couldn't believe her eyes; Clover averted her own eyes and turned them to the mirror in the X-Powder.

"Clover, what's wrong?" asked Tira worriedly, but Clover didn't answer. She was staring, dumbstruck at the reflection of her own face, as though about a hundred warts had suddenly sprouted on it. The smooth skin, the luscious lips, the fine eyelashes, they were as normal as could be for Clover, but... what on earth had happened to her eyes?

The pupils were as sapphire blue as ever, but... the whites were no longer white as they had been in the morning, when she last checked. It was as though a black smoke had been billowing inside her and had clouded her eyes, and they now seemed grey, dead, and cold, like a thick winter fog. Was... was she turning into something again?

"What...what's wrong? asked Tira again, even more timidly.

"My... m-my eyes..." Tears started in the said eyes as Clover sat, horror-struck, looking back into them. "What... what happened to them... my... my beautiful eyes..."

"What do you mean?" said Tira. "Weren't they always like that?"

"NO!" screamed the Spy, hurling the X-Powder away again. "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY EYYYYYYES?"

She began to cry heavily into her hands, and Tira had no idea why, but let her. It was a little while before Clover regained control of herself, but tears still clung to her cheeks, and her eyes looked a little puffy now. She looked at Tira.

"What did you do to my eyes?" she whispered.

"Huh? Hey, I didn't do anything!" said Tira. "I just said that I thought they were always dark like that!"

"But...but they were white this morning, I checked...!" gasped Clover. "And no one said anything abnormal about me the entire time today! How is that possible?" Clover was always touchy about her looks, but this one took the cake.

"Well I don't know, I couldn't have done anything to them, I'm... not magic!" spluttered Tira.

"But... how come... how come..."

Clover fell silent, something occurring to her. She thought back about before the Spies had last split up. True, Alex had looked at her curiously, but Alex wasn't one to hold things in; she usually said her mind, like Clover did. It was Sam who nearly always kept things held in. Alex surely would have told Clover that there was something wrong with her eyes, like before when Clover had been turned into a cat-girl? Or maybe Alex thought she was seeing things? _Yeah, that would be like Alex, all right..._ thought Clover hopelessly.

"What is it?" ventured Tira.

"One... one of my friends gave me a weird look when we last split up," uttered Clover. "Maybe... then..."

She turned to look at Tira again. "Do you know how to get rid of this?" she asked, pointing at her eyes.

"What? No, no! I've had the darkness in my eyes since I can remember seeing them reflected back at me in a stream," said Tira earnestly. "Clover, this has to mean something for us, I can tell!"

"Huh? What do you mean, 'you can tell'?"

"Isn't it obvious? We're meant to be together!"

Clover managed a snicker. "Sorry, but I have enough friends," she said. "Especially after what's just happened..."

"I want to make that up to you!" said Tira desperately. "Please, give me a chance!"

"You really want to make up for that, huh?" Clover's now tainted eyes narrowed.

"Of course I do!"

"All right, I'll give you a chance."

At that, Tira practically soared up with a loud "YAY!" and started prancing about like an animal. Clover stared at her in disbelief and slight amusement, then cleared her throat. Tira stopped in mid-leap and looked straight at her.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked excitedly.

Clover's mind raced; it went back to the talk of slavery. For a second she considered it, but realized if she did that even to the lowest degree she'd be no better than this Nightmare that Tira spoke of. Then it hit her. _Nightmare..._

"If you really want to make up for nearly killing me, you'll come with me, Sam, and Alex to your world, as it seems, to help fight off this Nightmare guy you were a slave of," said Clover flatly.

Tira's face fell instantly. Clover might have insulted her and done no more. "What?" asked Clover.

"N-no... you can't go..." squeaked Tira, stricken. "He... he's evil incarnate."

"He may have... killed, a lot of people, according to you, but so have many jerks and creeps that we've run into," said Clover. "He's nothing less and nothing more than they are. And," she added, struck by another sudden thought... the darkness in her eyes... was it related to this? "maybe this is the thing you say we're meant to do."

"B-but I can't lose you! Not now! Not after all this!" wailed Tira, clutching at Clover's shoulders.

"Hey! Let go of me!" cried Clover indignantly, and tried to struggle. With another yelp she stopped; the wounds from earlier were reminding her of her current condition. Tira let go immediately and looked scared. She looked around, and spotted the wreck nearby; the door was still wide open. Clover followed Tira's gaze.

"Maybe... maybe there's something in there... whatever it is," said Tira uncertainly.

"There's a makeshift bed in there, that's it. I checked," Clover groaned.

"Well it might help you relax," said Tira firmly. "Come on, I'll help you, okay?"

There were no protests from Clover, but she looked slightly resentful. Nonetheless, like she allowed Tira to rest her against the tree, so she now allowed Tira to drag her into the train car wreck. Tira was, again, a lot stronger than she looked. She was smaller than Clover, but only slightly.

"Will this do for now?" said Tira, laying Clover down on the mattresses.

"It's not queen-size," replied Clover, "but yeah it'll do for now." Panting slightly, she rolled over a bit, grabbed the pillow and took off the pillowcase, and then stared around as though looking for something.

"Here, I can do that," said Tira, realizing what the Spy was about to do, and walked around the wreck. She found a random plank, grabbed the pillowcase, and tied the plank about Clover's thigh wound with it.

"Unnnngh... my poor body," grunted Clover. "You really did a fucking number on it..."

"I know, I already said I was sorry," replied Tira mournfully. "What about your - ?"

"None of the gadgets I got help with wounds, only for catching bad guys," said Clover weakly.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." moaned Tira. She wiped her face with her arm.

"Why do you wear that thing, anyway?" asked Clover, looking at Tira's top. "It's, like, totally demeaning."

"Oh?" Tira looked down at herself, then at Clover. "Well... it's not like I haven't been hurt before either, and this looked nicer before I met Nightmare, but it does kinda look silly. I don't have any other clothes though..."

"Well I'll accept it for now," said Clover, flicking a hand through her hair imperiously, as she usually did. Now that the situation between her and Tira was swiftly becoming less and less dangerous, she seemed to be gaining her personality back again. "Listen," she said at length, "you caused me some major hurt here - "

"I said I was sorry!" Tira wailed.

"Let me finish, all right?" Clover said tersely. "You cause me some major hurt here, but you stopped, and I'm pretty sure if you wanted to kill me after that I'd be dead. And," she added with a bit of a curious frown, "there's something about you now that seems... well... more believable than before. I don't know what it is but you don't seem to want to do anything, well, bad to me anymore." She took a deep breath. "I forgive you for attacking me and nearly killing me and all that, and I'm not usually one to forgive like that. Something must be wrong with me," she muttered.

"If there is, I approve of it," said Tira, looking very happy again. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"No," grunted the Spy, lying back onto the mattress, "but things always come through in the end. Somehow."

There was another long silence. Clover's wounds seemed to have stopped bleeding, but her face was still very pale and the expression slightly laboured. It looked up into Tira's face, and the two stared at each other for a moment.

"Your friends will kill me, I know it," moaned Tira. "Any friend of yours would, after what - "

"Don't... don't worry about it," said Clover heavily. "I'll be able to convince them otherwise." _Well, Alex anyway._

Silence again.

"Are you cold?" asked Tira.

"Errr... kinda," replied Clover. "Why - ?"

But there was no need for Clover to finish the question, for Tira had gently placed her upper body on top of Clover's and embraced her. She heard Clover making unintelligible sounds, and raised her head to look at her again. Clover seemed wholly shocked and terrified by that act, and the jargon ushered from her lips seemed to confirm it.

"Wh – why – why did you – what – why - " she spluttered.

"Silly! I'm sharing my warmth with you," replied Tira. "That way no one gets cold, even in the dead of night."

"You... you could have j-just taken out the other m-mattress from under me and put it on top," mumbled Clover.

"Come on now, that wouldn't keep you warm, and it certainly wouldn't be very cozy either," said Tira. "I think this is much better, don't you agree?"

She grinned at Clover, who was once again at a loss for words. If Clover was completely honest with herself... yes, having someone wrapped around you in a warm hug was a better idea for keeping warm than sandwiching yourself between two thick mattresses, but she very much wished that it was a cute guy who was hugging her, or at the very least Alex, who loved to give hugs every so often, instead of this wacked girl, as she thought her. Sweet, but wacked.

"Er, well... yeah, um, thanks," mumbled Clover, as Tira sat up again and let go.

"Oh it's nothing," beamed Tira. "You know," she added forlornly, her face falling again, "I don't know if anybody showed me true kindness before. My master in the Bird of Passage treated me, well, what I would call 'fairly', but... I just don't know. I don't think I've ever known, in fact..."

"You...never knew any compassion? Even once?" said Clover, trying to sit up herself, and managing it.

"Well I only saw such feelings as an outsider," said Tira. "Mind you, I saw them a lot, so I do know what to do."

Clover gave a low whistle. _Never experienced a single drop of humanity in her entire life, just living with pure hatred...huh, what a sad life Tira must have led._ She was suddenly filled with an intense feeling of pity, something she rarely felt. Just as suddenly, Tira did not seem so strange anymore. All she was was a lost girl with no real positive emotions, or ones that ended in disaster... or death.

"You're the first one to even show me any affection," sniffed Tira, barely audible, "and that was after I caused you so much pain... you forgave me for everything. Even the family that took me in briefly gave me nothing to feel."

The pity Clover felt now heightened to almost agonizing levels; it almost hurt more than her wounds.

"Aw, come here." Very cautiously, Clover leant forward and gave Tira a hug this time.

* * *

Tira gasped. She had not been expecting it. Clover's arms were around Tira now, and her head on Tira's shoulder. The one Tira now cared, actually _cared_ about, like nobody else, seemed to have finally given in. Emotions blazed through her mind like a sun flare; there was naught negative through her, for once in her life... only happiness.

"Th-thank you," was the only reply Tira could give. She put her own arms around Clover's body and held them there, nestling her own head on Clover's shoulder. Before she knew it, she was crying. But there were no bitter tears here; no ill will borne to the one before her, safely entwined in her embrace. There was just pure overwhelming joy, and it emanated from Tira as it had never done before, too vast to be contained. No one had ever taken her in their arms like this before. It was the greatest and kindest gesture she had ever felt... the feeling that you were safe in arms. It ran through Tira and made her cry even more. Her life of slaughter, still so near to her, was starting to fall away...

* * *

Clover was amazed. Tira was clearly bawling her heart out, and didn't seem like she would ever stop. _It's like she still has the mind of a kid... well I'd so have one too if my last several years were made of only death._ And it was this, more than anything, that convinced Clover that Tira was truly what she said she was. She had been pretty sure already, but this sealed it. And her injuries... as far as she was concerned, someone else carved them into her.

She gripped Tira a bit more tightly, and held her for a few more seconds. She could feel Tira's hands trembling.

"What's up?" said Clover, a little confused.

"Can... can we stay like this? Even for just a little longer? Please?" said Tira hoarsely.

"Uh, sure..." muttered Clover. "But can I lie down after?"

"I'll lie here with you, if you'll let me," said Tira. "I don't want to be on my own right now..."

"Y-yeah, that's cool," said Clover nervously. Still interlocked in their embrace, they both eased their bodies back onto the large padding and were still. She had never had a stranger night than this, but Clover was at least glad that it had turned out for the good. _Well, bring on tomorrow..._ she thought sleepily.

* * *

A/N: Well, the longest chapter thus far, and yet it took not even nearly as long as the other chapters. And I really do encourage you, if you haven't already, to read up on Tira's story so that a lot of parts on her end make sense to you Totally Spies fans. The Soul Calibur wiki should help. Anyway, next chapter, next time! Later folks! :D


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